Contact Information
| Facilities | Research
Focus Areas | Map
Simcoe Campus
1283 Blueline Rd. Box 587
Simcoe, Ontario, Canada N3Y 4N5
Phone: 519-426-7127
Fax: 519-426-1225
Facilities
The Simcoe Campus of the University of Guelph, Department of Plant Agriculture has 86.8 hectares of land on the edge of the highly productive Norfolk sand plain in the central Erie region. Its mission is to help strengthen the fruit and vegetable industries in the potentially highly productive
Simcoe operates research programs covering vegetables, fruits, and various alternative crops for the sandy tobacco soils of the area. The ratio of research input is about 70 % vegetables and 30 % fruit, which reflects the approximate distribution of horticultural production in the Lake Erie counties.
Soil and Climate
Latitude 42 ° 51'N; Longitude 80 ° 16'W; Elevation 240.5 meters (above mean sea level).
Soils: Norfolk sand plain (course sand and sandy loam)
Southern Ontario's soil and climate make this area in many respects the most suitable in Canada for horticultural crops. This is particularly true in the southwest region where over 50 % of Canada's Class 1 land is located.
Norfolk county, location of the Simcoe Campus, is one of the most southerly counties of Canada. Most of the county is well-drained naturally by streams which flow southward into Lake Erie. Traditional crops of the area have been tobacco, apples, small fruits, market vegetables and canning crops. Sand or sandy-loam soils make up about two-thirds of the total land area with the balance tending toward loam, clay loam and clay.
Weather
The weather station at Simcoe is on the campus 10 kilometers north of Lake Erie. The experiment station's hourly readings of temperature, precipitation and wind have been maintained since January 1962. Prior to 1988, weather data was collected at Simcoe by both manned and automated stations by the Atmospheric Environment Service.
Subsequent to the closure of the manned station in Dec 1987, OMAFRA established in August 1988 an automated station based on a Campbell Scientific CR-21X data logger to provide weather data for scientific research purposes. Data are recorded with hourly averages saved and daily summaries calculated.
Contact:
Dr. Alan McKeown - amckeown@uoguelph.ca
Simcoe, Ont. Weather - http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/
Greenhouses
Simcoe has a range of four outer-connected heated glasshouses covering 670 m² and a greenhouse-headroom/ propagating area. There are also four Conviron E15 Chambers with a growth area of 1.4 m² each, with CMP4000 controllers connected to a central host computer for controlled environment studies. Installed in 1996, they are equipped with a high light package in addition to base features.
Contact:
Wally Andres - wandres@uoguelph.ca
Simcoe Post Harvest Evaluation, Handling, and Storage Units
The Simcoe Experiment Station has a unit of six cold storages with an approximate capacity of 90 m³. One of these is permantly assigned to seed storage, and another is equiped with a Filacell unit for storing leafy products at high humidity.
Contact:
Wally Andres - wandres@uoguelph.ca
Main Research Focus Areas
- Breeding and Management of Berry Crops
- Apple Physiology and Management
- Vegetable Weed Management
- Vegetable Production and Physiology
- Alternative Crops
Berry Crop Program
The berry crop program breeds conventional fresh-market and day-neutral strawberries for both the fresh and processing markets and to extend the fruiting season. Management studies seek to reduce inputs, develop integrated pest management practices and work to introduce extended season technologies. New varieties are trialed for the industry and new berry crops are introduced. This program is enhanced by the use of an extensive collection of wild strawberry accessions from throughout Ontario.
Raspberries are also being evaluated at Simcoe, testing new lines from British Columbia and Scotland for suitability in Ontario. As well, highbrush blueberries, black currants and some hybrid berries, (e.g. Tayberries) are being examined.
Contact:
Dr. Adam Dale - adale@uoguelph.ca
Apple Program
The apple program takes a holistic approach to solving problems oriented primarily to managing modern intensive orchards planted with size-controlling rootstocks. Emphasis is placed on understanding the physiological processes influencing tree growth and production efficiency. One-quarter of all Ontario apples are now grown within aproximately 40 km of the town of Simcoe. Major thrusts in the programs include the evaluation of cultivars, rootstocks and planting systems, control of crop level and canopy architecture, uses of chemical and non-chemical growth regulating techniques, and evaluation of management system effects on fruit quality and storage life.
Contact:
Dr. John Cline- jcline@uoguelph.ca
Weed Management Research
Weed management research screens new herbicides and develops registration support for the vegetable industry. Recently, the program has emphasized integrated weed management and reduced herbicide inputs which maximize weed control and crop yield in a wide range of vegetables. The vegetable weed management research program is the largest in Canada.
Contact:
Dr. John O'Sullivan - josulliv@uoguelph.ca
Vegetable Production and Physiology
Studies in vegetable production and physiology include variety trials on cucumbers, melons, peppers and beets, and the development of machine harvesting for pickling cucumbers. Several other traditional field vegetables are being studied at Simcoe with the general objective of refining the management technology for expanded production in the central Erie counties. These include asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, peppers, sweet corn, and a range of vine crops, such as pickling cucumber, pumpkin, squash, muskmelon, watermelon and zucchini. Cole crop studies include integrated pest management and variety trials.
Contacts:
Dr. Alan McKeown - Cole crops and Asparagus, Sweet corn - amckeown@uoguelph.ca
Dr. John O'Sullivan, Vine Crops, Peppers- josulliv@uoguelph.ca
Alternate Crops
Many alternate crops are being examined and focus is being placed on sweet potato, sweet Spanish onions and tree nuts. In addition, research is continuing on native sand-prairie grass species which are poor hosts for root lesion nematodes and have agricultural potential as cover crops. Simcoe also operates a program to study the feasibility of potential, non-tradional crops as alternatives on local tobacco farms. Some recent examples in this category include Asian vegetables, edible tree nuts, okra, sweet potatoes, leeks, garlic, lettuce on mineral soils and eggplants.
Contact:
Dr. Alan McKeown - amckeown@uoguelph.ca
How to Find Us
The Department of Plant Agriculture Simcoe Campus, 1283 Blueline Road, is located 5 kilometers east of Simcoe adjacent to Highway 3. To reach the main entrance exit Highway 3 north on Blueline Road.
View Larger Map
Exact Location
These latitude-longitude co-ordinates can be plugged into your mapping software to get the exact location for our Simcoe Campus:
42.85684,-80.265598 (see it at Google Maps)
